A duty to rescue is a concept in tort law that arises in a number of cases, describing a circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party in peril. In common law systems, it is rarely formalized in statutes which would bring the penalty of law down upon those who fail to rescue. This does not necessarily obviate a moral duty to rescue: though law is binding and carries government-authorized sanctions, there are also separate ethical arguments for a duty to rescue that may prevail even where law does not punish failure to rescue.
Read more about Duty To Rescue: Common Law, Civil Law, Canadian Law, Ethical Justifications
Famous quotes containing the words duty to, duty and/or rescue:
“If one mistreats citizens of foreign countries, one infringes upon one’s duty toward one’s own subjects; for thus one exposes them to the law of retribution.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“Whether your child is 3 or 13, don’t rush in to rescue him until you know he’s done all he can to rescue himself.”
—Barbara F. Meltz (20th century)